junitReporter: per-<testsuite> timestamp uses report-write time, not suite-start time

[mirao]

Describe the bug

In the JUnit XML produced by junitReporter, the root <testsuites timestamp="..."> is correct (the actual run-start time), but the nested <testsuite timestamp="..."> for each suite is wrong — it holds the moment the XML file was written (i.e. after that suite, including AfterSuite, finished), not when the suite started.

Root cause

lib/plugin/junitReporter.js:

setAttr(root, 'timestamp', toIso(result.stats && result.stats.start))       // correct: Mocha's real run-start stat
...
setAttr(suiteEl, 'timestamp', toIso(suite && suite.startedAt))              // suite.startedAt is never set anywhere

function toIso(value) {
  const date = value ? new Date(value) : new Date()
  return Number.isNaN(date.getTime()) ? new Date().toISOString() : date.toISOString()
}

suite.startedAt doesn't exist on Mocha's Suite — I grepped the whole codeceptjs package and startedAt is only ever set on individual test objects (lib/listener/steps.js:20), never on a Suite. So suite && suite.startedAt is always undefined, toIso() falls through to its new Date() fallback, and the <testsuite> gets stamped with "now" at write time — effectively the run's end time, not its start.

To Reproduce

1. Run any suite with -p junitReporter (or the junitReporter plugin enabled in config).
2. Open the generated report.xml.
3. Compare the root <testsuites timestamp> against the nested <testsuite timestamp> — the nested one matches the file's mtime / run-finish time instead of run-start time.

Example from a real run (root suite ran 08:09:58–08:10:20 local / 06:09:58–06:10:20 UTC):

<testsuites name="CodeceptJS" tests="5" ... timestamp="2026-07-30T06:09:58.974Z">
  <testsuite name="LeaveRequest" ... timestamp="2026-07-30T06:10:20.079Z" ...>

The root timestamp (06:09:58.974Z) is right. The suite timestamp (06:10:20.079Z) matches report.xml's file mtime (08:10:20.079420438 +0200 local), i.e. write time, not start time — a ~22s discrepancy in this run.

Expected behavior

The <testsuite> timestamp attribute should reflect when that suite actually started (e.g. captured via event.suite.before, or derived from the earliest test.startedAt/test.opts.startedAt among the suite's tests), not the report-write time.

Environment

• CodeceptJS: 4.0.9
• Node: 24.18.0
• OS: Linux 6.17, Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS

Related

Same underlying failure pattern — "now" captured at report-build/write time gets mislabeled as a start timestamp — also found and reported separately in @testomatio/reporter's HTML report ("Started At" field): testomatio/reporter#903

---

🤖 Filed with the help of Claude Sonnet 5 (Anthropic)

[mirao]

Here is the part of the XML where I noticed the issue:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<testsuites name="CodeceptJS" tests="5" failures="0" skipped="0" errors="0" time="18.999" timestamp="2026-07-30T06:09:58.974Z"><testsuite name="LeaveRequest" id="0" tests="5" failures="0" skipped="0" errors="0" time="18.999" timestamp="2026-07-30T06:10:20.079Z" hostname="rog" file="/home/mirao/workspace/codeceptjs/tests/s4p/LeaveRequest_test.ts"><testcase name="Verify creating a leave request via the Home 'New leave request' button" classname="LeaveRequest" time="7.863" file="/home/mirao/workspace/codeceptjs/tests/s4p/LeaveRequest_test.ts"><properties><property name="browser" value="webkit"/><property name="browserVersion" value="26.5"/><property name="windowSize" value="1920x1080"/></properties><system-out>I fill field #DEV_LOGIN_EMAIL_INPUT, "at962937553631618@autotest.lab" (913ms)
...

test log (in GMT+2)

mirao@rog:~/workspace/codeceptjs/tests/s4p$ codeceptjs run LeaveRequest_test.ts --profile personal,webkit --verbose --colors|ts
Jul 30 08:09:58 [TESTOMATIO] Testomatio Reporter v2.12.0
Jul 30 08:09:58 ***************************************
Jul 30 08:09:58 nodeInfo:  24.18.0
Jul 30 08:09:58 osInfo:  Linux 6.17 Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS 24.04.4 LTS (Noble Numbat)
Jul 30 08:09:58 cpuInfo:  (16) x64 AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 8-Core Processor
Jul 30 08:09:58 chromeInfo:  151.0.7922.71
Jul 30 08:09:58 edgeInfo:  "N/A"
Jul 30 08:09:58 firefoxInfo:  152.0.6
Jul 30 08:09:58 safariInfo:  N/A
Jul 30 08:09:58 playwrightBrowsers:  "chromium: 149.0.7827.55, firefox: 151.0, webkit: 26.5"
Jul 30 08:09:58 If you need more detailed info, just run this: npx codeceptjs info
Jul 30 08:09:58 ***************************************
Jul 30 08:09:58 CodeceptJS v4.0.9 #StandWithUkraine
Jul 30 08:09:58 Using test root "/home/mirao/workspace/codeceptjs/tests/s4p"
Jul 30 08:09:58 [TESTOMATIO] Pipes: HTML Reporter
Jul 30 08:09:58 Helpers: Common, Playwright, REST, JSONResponse, FileSystem, ChaiWrapper, CmdHelper, PixelmatchHelper, S4P, MySQL_DB, S4P_server
Jul 30 08:09:58 Plugins: screenshot, retryFailedStep, testomatio, junitReporter, customLocator
Jul 30 08:09:58 
Jul 30 08:09:58 LeaveRequest --

...

Jul 30 08:10:19     I see text equals "Aug 2, 2026", #REQUESTS_LIST_ITEM_DATE_RANGE
Jul 30 08:10:19     › [Element] <div dir="auto" class="css-text-146c3p1 select-text font-sans text-sm text-muted-foreground" data-te...
Jul 30 08:10:19   ✔ OK in 1674ms
Jul 30 08:10:19 
Jul 30 08:10:19   AfterSuite()
Jul 30 08:10:19     I delete child 463
Jul 30 08:10:19     I delete child 464
Jul 30 08:10:19     I delete parent 759
Jul 30 08:10:20 
Jul 30 08:10:20 
Jul 30 08:10:20   OK  | 5 passed   // 21s
Jul 30 08:10:20    › <junitReporter> JUnit report saved to /home/mirao/workspace/codeceptjs/tests/s4p/output/report.xml
Jul 30 08:10:20 ⏳ The test results will be added to the HTML report. It will take some time...
Jul 30 08:10:20 📊 The HTML report was successfully generated. Full filepath: file:///home/mirao/workspace/codeceptjs/tests/s4p/output/report/testomatio-report.html